This past comics book week I had the privilege to read the funniest frickin’ comic since the Gumby Winter Fun Special. Maybe you DOUBT That I know what “funny” is? NEED I remind you that I wrote approximately three columns urging you squares to pick up the Milk and Cheese Dairy Products Gone Bad collection from Dark Horse, and what happened to that book? HUH?

It won the Eisner this year for “Best Humor Publication,” so takes your doubts and hock them for peanuts.

Hands down the funniest comic since forever. The Goon has always been a great, fun read with tons of monsters, punchenings and slick, sick art from the pen of master writer/artist Eric Powell, but something about #40 was on target with America, on target with comic book s and on target with the beauteous wonderment that is art.

Maybe it was the Ed Roth inspired skunk ape, hopped up on cough medicine moonshine tearin’ up the town with his monster jalopy, or maybe it was the Charleston contest interrupted by Satan, most likely I would say that the funniest moment was the whole dang thing.

This issue follows on the heals of one bad mamma-jamma of a heartbreaker, where we meet the Goons Dad for the first time and get a glimpse into what makes that tough sucker so angry at the world.

Oh, you’ve never read the Goon? Well, Dark Horse is working hard on a CGI Goon movie, and who knows if they’ll ever finish it…still, you should know something about this truly inspiring comic, if only so you can appear urbane and cosmopolitan at your next tractor pull or goat orgy. Continue reading →

More controversy this week as two big-name comics authors lay the smack down on the major publishers! But that works out alright by us, because there are plenty of fantastic small press books to look at too! And with the MoCCA Fest just around the corner, now’s a perfect time to check out some of the comics that might otherwise be under your radar!

Why haven’t I thought of this before? You guys must be super bored of reading my crumble-down, old timey column of words, thoughts, and comic book related highlights. THAT is why the Flash went to an alternative universe and got a glimpse at an ALL NEW, ALL DIFFERENT Unkiedev. A glimpse so startling that we have REBOOTED the entire Unkiedev’s Amazing Stuff universe!

No longer do I live in a smelly cave and constantly get assailed by ghouls, mummies, and woodland creatures! NOW I’m a sexy alien cat burglar who wears purple lingerie and totally makes-out with Batman! That is, when I’m not living in a smelly cave, getting goofed on by mummies and bears and crap.

NOT part of the 52 that I’m aware of, though DC is pretty creative with its retcons. Supernatural is the DC published comic book based on the TV show of the same name. This is the third miniseries written about the show, all of which are sanctioned by the show’s creators and considered in-continuity stories.

Supernatural is good ole’ fun, the tale of roving monster hunters hanging out in bars, getting into fights with each other and the forces of evil. In this new miniseries, younger brother Sam is off in Scotland entangled in two sticky wickets, these being Monsters and Women.

S’good, fun stuff. Forbidden Planet might just have a few issues of #1 kicking around if you ask nicely. Or they might not. What do I know, I live in a cave! Continue reading →

Comics is too big a field to make statements like “Comics fans fall into two categories.” Comics fans fall into fifty-quadra-billion categories…almost as many categories as Uncle Scrooge has beautiful golden coins in his money bin. Still, we can point out a simple dichotomy that seems scientifically tested: There are those who believe Carl Barks‘ “Uncle Scrooge” comics are some of the high water marks of genius in our beloved medium, and then there are those who say “Carl WHO?!”

Time after time, kids of all ages revisit the classic Uncle Scrooge comics drawn, written, and conceptualized by the legendary Carl Barks. Even works that stand the test of time like Uncle Scrooge, however, started as periodicals. One unavoidable tag on the toe of classic Scrooge McDuck stories is his imperialistic, western based perspective that the treasures of any other culture, civilization or people was the spoils of whichever civilized duck was clever enough to find it.

Duck Tales: Rightful Owners will be an enlightened, modern look back at Scrooge’s treasure hunting days in which he returns plundered goodies to their native homes. The pedigree of the writers and artists (Warren Spector is the guy behind Wii’s Epic Mickey and artist Leonel Castellaniis a big wig over at Marvel’s Super Hero Squad) indicates that this is a labor of love and not just a cheap cash grab.

High concept and high talent can fail pretty hard at filling big shoes…but I’m buying in. Who has three thumbs and loves Scrooge McDuck? THIS guy! Continue reading →

There comes a time in any comic book collector’s life where they must make a choice: do I buy supplies to protect my collection or do I just continue throwing them in a dingy old pizza box beneath my dead rat collection?

Both plans have their merits, though only one of them is correct.

SUPPLIES

The obvious advantage to the dead rat/pizza box scenario is security. No one is going to mess with your Batman Inc. #1 when it’s covered in old cheese and maggots. Advantage number two: The easier it is to get access to your comics, the easier it is to share them with friends.

I always keep a couple of DC and Marvel Omnibus and Showcase telephone books around on my coffee table because they make for great reads while entertaining. Nothin’ is as much fun as old school, Silver age weirdness. By having your comics ready to be lent out in a jiff you can maximize the exposure of your favorite artists and writers amongst your pals, increasing your visibility as a taste-maker and person-in-the-know.

Further, the more you treat your comics like they are simple, disposable fun the more assessable and demystified they become to others. Maybe that’s your thing.

The disadvantage of the rat/pizza thing is that it’s flipping disgusting and, not that comics should be about the speculation, but you permanently cripple the resale value. Continue reading →

What a week for insanely violent comic madness. It’s as if Satan himself came up from hell and packed our shelves with his favorite stuff.

Avatar publishing has been at the top of their gruesome game with releases like Crossed, Garth Ennis’ take on the zombie genre, and Alan Moore’s Cthulhu-rape masterpiece, Neonomicon. If that’s not enough to get your blood pumping, this weeks’ Caligula #1 by little Davey Lapham will surely do it. It’s all the messed up good fun expected from the man who brought you my favorite comic of all time, Stray Bullets.

Also, the highly anticipated return of Godzilla to our beloved comic shelves has been realized this week by our good friends, IDW publishing. With Eric Powell’s name attached to this book we just know its gonna be good. Just look at that beautiful gatefold cover he did for the first issue. Grab a copy of Godzilla #1 while you still can, I know this baby is gonna go fast.

Today’s column marks an incredible anniversary for me. No, it’s not the 100th column or even the 200th. I haven’t been keeping the best records of these things, so I couldn’t really tell you how many of them I’ve written.

No, this is the column where we celebrate the fifth column written since I figured out I have no idea how many columns I’ve actually done! Happy QuinQuestionMarversary, everybody!

THINGS I’VE LEARNED

One of the things I’ve learned in my time is to give the readers what they want…such as exciting recommendations for this weeks books!

HOLY CRAP! Not only does Dark Horse have new issues of Billy the Kid’s Old Time Oddities #2 by Eric Powell butHellboy is going to meet the Beasts of Burden crew in Beast of Burden/Hellboy One-Shot?! Evan Dorkin, Mike Mignola and Jill Thompson working together? This is possibly the greatest comic book collaboration in years! If you’ve ever wanted a comic book where Hellboy holds a pug on the cover, well, now you have one.

All this and the Firefly: Shepard’s Tale GN which will finally reveal Shepard Book’s origins? Dark Horse, you spoil us!

Another thing I’ve learn is to use any flimsy excuse I can to plug fun comics I like. Continue reading →

Buffy season 8 started out as an exciting new development in the history of comic books. Where Television had disappointed fans by ending a popular show, comic books would pick up the slack and give the official account of our heroines continued adventures, brought to us by the actual TV writers who made us fall in love with the Buffmeister in the first part.

How did they deliver on that promise? Grading on a curve (as we have to do for today’s America) I would give Buffy season 8 a B-, though in my heart I’d have to say these are C books at best.

WHATCHOO’ TALKIN’ BOUT’, UNKIE

There are three big flaws to Buffy Season 8. The first is the artwork.

Apart from Spider-Man dying/getting unmasked/getting magically divorced or other milestone comic books like Superman and Batman’s Massachusetts wedding (coming up in this week’s Batman #703) Buffy season 8 was the highest profile comic book for the past three years…so why didn’t it have a superstar artist?

Don’t get me wrong, the artist was fair, but not great. The fact that I’ve read all of the issues and still can’t remember the guy’s name is indication enough that the artwork was not the book’s selling point. In a comic about petite blondes and brunettes stabbing bloodsuckers, it’s VERY hard via the artwork to keep all the characters distinct. Continue reading →

Superheroes are thinly veiled caricatures of our own hopes and insecurities. Finding the right balance between subtly recognizing these deep psychological urges and making the character cool is the entire trick to creating interesting and compelling characters. Think of it like making your first mixed drink: You want enough booze in there to knock your socks off, but put too much in and it will taste like liquorices flavored Scope.

That said you should probably stay away from birds when you’re making up new comic book characters. No one wants to read about birds. Birds ruin everything.

WHY NO BIRDS?

The concept of a super evolved dinosaur with telescopic vision and the power to fly SOUNDS cool until you realize that this is just your average, run-of-the-mill bird. YES, birds can fly, people would like to fly and therefore many people wish they could be birds. Creating a character AROUND a bird theme never seems to embody the freedom we all yearn for, as it underlies poor creativity and too much blatant symbolism; Bird superheroes seem half-baked, tacky and fairly pathetic. Continue reading →